Passenger car motor vehicles have for many decades featured movable side door glass. A mechanism is required in order to move the glass between the upper closed position and the lower opened position. These mechanisms are generally known as window regulators. Window regulators can be manually operated, or can be driven by a powered actuator, most commonly using an electric motor. One type of window regulator uses a pulley arrangement with a metal cable wrapped around a drum driven by an electric motor. This device uses a carrier which engages the door glass and fastens it to the window regulator assembly to control its motion as it moves vertically.
Window regulator mechanisms may be categorized into groups which include dual rail and single rail types. In a dual rail system, a pair of separated rails is provided which each include a movable window clamp which is fastened to the lower edge of the glass and move in a synchronized manner to raise and lower the glass. In a single rail type, a single rail is positioned near the center of the glass panel and includes a carrier plate with a clamp assembly which engages a lower portion of the window. The carrier plate with the clamp assembly moves the window vertically along the rail between the open and closed positions. A single-rail window regulator requires fewer parts than a dual rail system and is lighter in weight, but poses design challenges in providing sufficient stability for the control of the glass motion since it is controlled by a single rail and a single carrier plate.
Window clamps typically attach at the lower edge of the glass through various approaches. One approach uses a clamp which pinches the glass for attachment. Another type inter-engages with a hole through the glass formed near the lower edge of the glass. In the conventional designs of the above-mentioned window glass clamp which fastens through a hole in the glass, it is necessary during its assembly for an operator to accurately position the clamp and force it into engagement with the window at the proper position such that an interlocking feature engages with the window glass hole. The necessity of accurately positioning the clamp in this manner gives rise to assembly difficulties and potential improper assembly situations.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.